IRISH racing lost a great friend and supporter last weekend when Jim Ryan from Golden in Co Tipperary passed away peacefully.

Through his company Jim Ryan Racecourse Services, he was responsible for watering the majority of Irish racecourses since the start of the century and he also supplied racecourses with fences and groundstaff.

Fairyhouse manager Peter Roe said: “It all started in 2000 when I was Tipperary manager and Jim heard me on local radio talking about the difficulty of watering tracks efficiently using tankers. Jim called me to ask if we would try the umbilical cord system he used to spread slurry. It took a little while to perfect the method but soon Punchestown signed up and he ended up watering almost every track, from Cork to Down Royal, from Galway to Fairyhouse.”

He was at ease in all company, which was perfectly illustrated in a photograph carried on the front page of a national newspaper which showed Jim in his working gear at Punchestown sharing a joke with the then Taoiseach Enda Kenny.

Jim loved problem-solving and it was at Punchestown one year where he pulled off one of his most impressive feats, pumping rainwater off the track to ensure racing went ahead. On another occasion he organised a fleet of tankers to deliver water to Tipperary Racecourse when the main supply failed.

He was also a racehorse owner, winning five races with Bentelimar in 2014.

Jim loved racing and, with his wife Ann, was great company. He was regularly spotted at Cheltenham with brother-in-law Johnny Looby, Patsy Byrne and Dick O’Sullivan. A copy of The Irish Field and a rain gauge were among the symbols brought to the altar at his funeral mass.

Outside of racing he was chairman of West Tipperary GAA during a period in the late 1980s and early ‘90s which coincided with great success for the county’s hurlers.

Jim Ryan is survived by his wife Ann, son Sean - who is track foreman at Punchestown - and daughters Catriona and Annmarie.

Peter Roe concluded: “Most people in Irish racing probably never met Jim because his work was done before the gates opened but he was one of those unsung heroes. He had a great relationship with racecourse managers and clerks of the course. He will be sadly missed and our thoughts are with Ann and the Ryan family.”